INTERVIEW: Leinster scrumhalf and place-kicker Brian O'Meara/John O'Sullivan discovers how the man whom Leinster rely on to kick points deals with the pressures that come with his role within the team.

The old sporting maxim suggests that there's only six inches between a pat on the back and kick in the backside. It's probably something which place-kickers could empathise with.

Dealing in variables like wind, underfoot conditions and shouldering the expectations of a team and supporters and the pressure it generates is not for the faint-hearted. Kick the goals and you're a hero, miss and there isn't a lonelier place in the sporting world. It marks them as a special breed.

On Sunday Brian O'Meara will once again assume the responsibilities for Leinster, consigning the Biarritz game to the memory dustbin. His two from six opportunities irked the player and, given the denouement to the match, received more column inches than it might have done if his team-mates had capitalised on glorious approach work.

No one was more unhappy than the 27-year-old scrumhalf. "It's always disappointing missing kicks when you get them in training. It's annoying, one of those games where you get the chances but can't convert. My European Cup stats haven't been where I want them to be but I'm pretty happy that if the pressure kicks come I'll knock them over."

It's not as if he's not striking the ball well, a fact that merely exacerbates the frustration but he won't dwell on what's gone by. A Heineken European Cup semi-final at Lansdowne Road offers a clean slate and those who trawl Leinster's pivotal matches in the pool phase of this season's competition will recall his telling contributions, against Montferrand.

Reflecting on the Biarritz game O'Meara offers this perspective: "Personally it (the Biarritz game) was different for me in relation to most of the other players. I'd been building up to the game for three months, not being on the (Ireland) As or senior squad.

"I was really focusing on the match and was probably emotionally tired going into the game. I remember my legs feeling so heavy especially in the first half.

"Playing three games in the AIL (with Cork Constitution) does not prepare you for playing a European Cup match, regardless of your views on the AIL. The step up in pace was frightening."

Leinster's lop-sided ratio in terms of chances created to those taken and the ensuing injury-time scare that almost deprived them of a place in Sunday's game guaranteed criticism, something against which O'Meara rails.

"Looking back at the video we played some of the best rugby we've played all season by a long, long way; we were outstanding.

"Hats off to Biarritz for some excellent defence. Some of the criticism we got was just a joke to be honest, considering the way we played. Of course if you don't take your opportunities a team can bite back but if Denis (Hickie) scored that try near the end or one of those penalties went over it could have been a 20-point game."

The chances slipped by, the crowd remained subdued and as the scrumhalf conceded, "we all made a few mistakes". But there is no recrimination in the Leinster camp, the mood is upbeat.

"I think it's a match we're all looking forward to in comparison to the Biarritz game. There was a lot of pressure the last day and many of the lads were tense before the game. After the relief of beating Biarritz, the players are really looking forward to this game.

"It's not that the expectation has been removed from our shoulders but the pressure isn't quite the same and I think we'll play an awful lot better against Perpignan. If we get the same chances this time we will take them. I think everybody seems so much more free in the last few days, more positive.

"I'm less tense than I was going into the Biarritz game. There's a much better buzz to be honest; I know it sounds slightly strange but that's the way we feel." The fractured preparation before the Biarritz game probably accentuated the unease.

"We were very nervous because most of the Irish guys didn't train much before the match. Training didn't go brilliantly so we were just delighted to get through it. You can't allow yourself to get over-hyped whether it's Ireland-England for the Grand Slam decider or this match.

"You have to prepare the same way. If you do anything different like we did, especially me personally, thinking about it too much then it just drains you because the week is long enough with other pressure. It's a case of be yourself, do what you normally do and it should be enough," he adds.